A Michigan police officer has been suspended after he was spotted while off-duty driving around in a pickup truck bearing the Confederate flag near a group protesting against Donald Trump.
Officer Michael Peters has been confirmed as the man in a photo taken from the rally. Traverse City police Chief Jeff O’Brien said that Peters would face an investigation starting on Monday in order to determine if his actions broke any department rules.
–Get your armor on for Trump’s Confederate States of America–
“He is not working as a police officer,” O’Brien told the Traverse City Record-Eagle. “I do not condone his actions.”
O’Brien went on to say that Peters’ decision to park with his Confederate flag, a flag that is seen by many as a symbol of racism, so close to the protests, was an act of intimidation and insisted that it was not a reflection of the rest of the police department.
“We will get through this,” O’Brien said. “The community will get through this.”